Riot
by Zero-Aurum-Chan
Summary: I could die and nobody would notice. I could be a ghost that people walked through. I just wanted them to be happy so leaving seemed like the best option.
1. Chapter 1: Somewhere else, please

**Title: **Riot

**By: **Zero-Aurum-Chan

**Summary:** I could die and nobody would notice. I could be a ghost that people walked through. I just wanted them to be happy so leaving seemed like the best option.

**A/N:** So people have probably does this one thousand times over. The whole, Ponyboy runs away scenario. I don't know though so I'm putting my own spin on things. So this takes place 1 year after the book and Pony is now 15, Johnny and Dally are 6 feet under. Sorry, I can't resurrect the dead, y'know I'm not god. I suppose the story is based off two songs.

**Never Surrender by Skillet** and **What it feels like**** by FFH**

Enjoy the story.

-Zero-

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_Chapter 1:_ **Somewhere else, please.**

The days had melted into one another. Every single one like the other, the same routine. Get up, have breakfast (some days) go to school, come home, do homework, do housework, have dinner, study sleep. Every day almost, the only differences were the weekends. I mostly just studied, there wasn't much else to do these days. Two-Bit isn't around much these days since Kathy turned up telling him that she was pregnant and he's more occupied with trying to hold down a job and raise his son, Jacob. He's a cute kid though, untainted and pure. Like I used to be, like everybody I know used to be. But that's it isn't it. How everybody used to be is different from how they are now.

A year ago I had a group of friends and a positive outlook on life. Its strange how much my life has changed in a year. Everybody is more tense, Darry has got more strict since the whole Windrixville incident even after I thought we'd come to an understanding. He hasn't really changed much, still strict as always. The state has been more on our backs too so he's desperately trying to keep me in check so nothing goes wrong and I get hauled off to a boys home. Lucky Soda doesn't have that thought any more, it's like the moment your turn eighteen nothing matters any more and you can just get on with life. You don't have any stupid social worker looking over your shoulder every five minutes. I wish my life was like that. I wish I could just get on with life and forget everything that had happened. I just want to feel normal again where I don't have to worry about the state. I had Johnny to go to the movies with, Two-Bit was still around cracking jokes. I just want it to go back. Life isn't like that though, nothing stays the same and my theme didn't make the slightest bit of a difference and now it's sitting gathering dust at the bottom of a drawer.

"Pony," Soda stuck his head round the bedroom door. "Dinner's ready."

I used to be close to Soda. We still share a room but we've got separate beds now, mainly because I stay up half the night studying and I woke him up most of time getting into bed. We'd been growing distant though, I hadn't been going out with him and Steve so much. I rarely ate dinner with him and Darry these days and most of my spare time was spent studying. It was like I had become a stranger in my own home, Darry worked long hours and Soda did too. We hardly ever saw each other despite living together. It was this huge void among us three and it was growing and had been ever since our parents had died. Sometimes I hated them, hated our parents for dying. Leaving us to fend for ourselves and then I hated myself for hating them. It wasn't their fault. I got up and headed into the dining room, today was a rare day where we were all together for dinner. It was awkward and not much was said, probably since not much had to be said.

"You okay Pony?" I looked up. I hadn't realised that I'd just been sitting there.

"Yeah," I replied half-heartedly because I knew it wasn't true.

I was never okay. I hadn't been in a long time. Ever since our parents death, I had felt slightly empty. As though a part of me was missing, a part that nobody could fill. Not Darry or Soda and not friends either. I sat back at my desk and pulled my old theme out from the bottom of the drawer. I looked at it sadly. A year ago I had hoped that this would bring change, that somebody would see things from how I saw it. How my friends saw life. It didn't do anything though, just graded and handed back to me like any other piece of work. So much for attempting to bring change. It doesn't make any difference what somebody does, I guess Randy was right about that. Greasers will always be Greasers and Socs will always be Socs. So much for trying to make a difference.

"Hey Pone, what's up," I turned, Soda was standing in the doorway.

"Nothing, I'm fine," I lied.

"No, you're not," Soda said. "You've not been acting like yourself in ages, can't you just tell me what's wrong."

No, I couldn't tell him. He wouldn't understand. He wasn't the one who narrowly escaped dying in a burning church. He wasn't the one who watched Johnny die or Dally finally reach a breaking point. He isn't the one who constantly feels guilty because if they hadn't run away then others would still be alive. I let out a short gasp and turned away from Soda so he wouldn't see my face.

"Y'know, I can't tell you. 'Cause it doesn't matter. You don't really care anyway," I snapped.

"Ponyboy, I'm your brother. I do care," his argument was weak. "I want to help you. But why don't you tell me anything."

I dropped the theme back in the drawer and slammed it shut. Standing up I turned to face Soda whose eyes were huge. He was soft, gentle, funny and carefree. Everything I wanted to be and everything I wasn't. Darry and Soda got on well because they were alike in more ways than they first realised. I wasn't like any of them, I wasn't funny or gentle like Soda or tough but caring like Darry. I was dismissive and cold. No wonder I always brushed Darry up the wrong way.

"I don't want to tell you," I snapped. "You're always trying to get into my life even if I don't want you too. Can't you just stop Soda."

"I just wanted to help," Soda said sadly.

"Well I never asked you too," I snapped again.

I grabbed my jacket from my bed and stormed past Soda. I was done with him. I walked past Darry who was trying to understand why I had began shouting, but I shrugged him and walked outside. I just needed time to cool off, I walked to the empty lot and sat down. Nobody really hung out there any more, not since its near permanent occupier was no longer able to come and stay in it at night. I didn't have anything to do and I had left my cigarettes sitting on my desk. If it wasn't for me Darry and Soda could just go about their lives. If it wasn't for me, Soda wouldn't have had to drop out of school. Maybe they'd be better off without me being around. Darry wouldn't have to work as much since there would be only two of them.

I don't know how long I had been sitting out in the lot but by the time I went home the sun had gone down. I walked in through the front door and straight to my room, I wasn't wanting to deal with Darry at that moment. I shut the bedroom door and flopped down on my bed, pulling my bag out from under it. I emptied my school stuff onto the floor, piled it up and slid it underneath my bed. Everybody would be better off if I was just gone, Darry and Soda especially. I knew what I'd need for now and I knew where I was going to head. I place my bag back under my bed and rolled over onto my side.

"Pone," it was Soda. "I'm sorry about earlier, I get you don't wanna share everything."

He said a lot more but I wasn't really listening, it was easier to black him out than listen and feel guilty about it later. Soda stopped talking to me and climbed into his own bed, I wasn't going to fall asleep but I waited until Soda was softly snoring and I could hear Darry heading into his own bedroom. I rolled over, slipped on my shoes and grabbed my bag. I slipped on my jacket and as a second thought grabbed a piece of paper and wrote out a small not for Darry and Soda. As usual the door was open and I slipped out without a sound. I turned to take one more look at the house that I had grown up in before running off down the street.

_Darry, Soda._

_I'm sorry. You guys will be better off without me. All I ever do is hold you back and now you can go on a do whatever you like. Don't think of this as your fault, 'cause it's not. I just don't think I can handle it any more. I can't stand Tulsa any more. The place has nothing but bad memories for me now. I need a new start, somewhere far away from Tulsa. Don't look for me, I'm not coming back. Look out for each other. This is all for the best, have good lives._

_-Ponyboy._

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**A/N: **Damn that ended up more depressing than I though it would. Oh well. Hope you like it either way and yeah it will pick up in the next few chapters. I will note firstly that this story will rely heavily on OC's so yeah just so you know. Anyway, hope you liked it and if you did please Review, Fave and Follow. See you guys later

-Zero


	2. Chapter 2: A New Path

**Title: **Riot

**By:** Zero-Aurum-Chan

**Summary:** I could die and nobody would notice. I could be a ghost that people walked through. I just wanted them to be happy so leaving seemed like the best option.

**A/N:** What...People paied attention to me. Wow, thanks for all the reviews, faves and follows. I have this account connected to Gmail so when I get an alert it goes straight to my phone. I fell asleep, woke up and boom 10 new emails. I seriously never thought I'd get anything. So yeah wow, thanks. New characters are introduced and things begin to unfold. Enjoy chapter 2.

-Zero

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**Chapter 2:** _A new path_

It took a lot longer to get to New York than I had thought. Just over a day and by the time I got there I was numb, tired and hungry. I've made some huge mistakes in my life, the biggest one before now was running away the night Darry slapped me. Right now however, I think I might have just dropped myself in the biggest mess. I was in a city I knew nothing about, I knew nobody here, had very little money and no food. It was early in the morning so I had plenty of time to try and get my bearings about where I was. Other than knowing I was in New York, I didn't really have a clue. I wouldn't say I was lost, because that's also like admitting defeat and I wasn't ready to do that just yet. I just needed to find somewhere to stay, after all I had grown up as a Greaser and we were resourceful.

The biggest difference was the amount of people. I thought Tulsa was busy but New York was something else, there were so many people that if you didn't walk carefully you'd instantly get crushed in between a crowd. Nobody seemed to care though, they didn't mind that they were bumping into people every few seconds. They just kept walking, it was overwhelming. The noise, the people and how tall every building seemed to be. I always thought Tulsa was a big place and now it seemed but a village compared to New York. Dally was right when he spoke about it. Dirty, busy, noisy and a total riot. I suppose it's one of those things you have to get used to.

I sat on stairs in front of a building and watched people for a while trying to figure out what I was going to do now that I was here. Impulsive was not something I was by nature but leaving just seemed like a good idea. After all I could die and nobody would notice. I could be a ghost that people walked through. I just wanted them to be happy so leaving seemed like the best option. They could be happy and I wouldn't be there to stop them. It didn't matter any way, Darry always looked at me as though I wasn't meant to be around. He tried to be a good brother, keep the promise that he'd always look out for Soda and me. I couldn't look out for him, I couldn't even make him proud. A few tears slipped down my face but I brushed them away hurriedly, they weren't welcome.

"_You've gotta be strong Pone,"_ I told myself. "_Be tough, just like Dally was._"

Just like Dally... That was the thing, I wasn't like Dally. He had years of seeing the wrongs things at a young age. He'd grown up around it, I hadn't. Man, the worst thing I saw was somebody getting their ass kicked badly. I'd never seen half of what Dally did, even now the thought of some of the things he told me still make my skin crawl. I stood up and brushed the dirt off the back of my jeans and continued to walk down the street. I kept my head down and made sure not to make eye contact with anybody. I didn't realise where I was walking, I just was. It didn't matter if I got lost, that's what I wanted to do after all. Disappear into thin air, nobody would look for me. My name alone makes most people laugh, they think it's a joke.

"Hey kid," I stopped and turned. A guy was leaning against a fence looking at me intently. "You got any cash?"

"No, I don't have anything," I mumbled, taking a few steps back.

"You sure?" the guy asked again.

I shook my head and walked quickly down the street, a dangerous feeling growing in the pit of my stomach. Nobody had even looked in my direction the whole day and if they did it wasn't intentional because they were looking behind or beside me. I didn't want to run because then it would be obvious that I was trying to get away. I walked at a steady pace, the feeling that somebody was following me making me shiver. Turning a corner I glanced back and found that there was actually not one person behind me.

"_Just calm down,_" I told myself. "_There's nobody there, just keep walking._"

I looked back once more just to make sure that there was nobody behind me and then kept on walking. By the time the sun was beginning to set, I was well and truly lost. I kept walking though, I didn't really want to stop, it was dark and I didn't want to chance anything that could happen to me during the night. The only upside was that it wasn't that cold, there was a breeze but it wasn't able to do anything. I sighed and looked up, I couldn't see the sky, the glow from buildings stopped it from showing through and it was a strange sensation.

"Hey! You," I didn't even stop to look round this time. I just ran.

When somebody addresses me with 'you' the first thing I always do is run. It's never a good thing, or from my experience it isn't. I didn't even know what I was running from but whatever, whoever, it may have been were clearly not looking to be friendly. That was when I learnt the meaning of dead-end. Having no idea where to run, I found myself running right into an empty, dead-ended street. There was a fence at the end of it which I tried to climb over but I couldn't get a grip of and fell back to the ground. I stood up shakily to face who I had been running from. There were two of them, two guys both older and both were built like Darry was.

"Give it up kid, you're never gonna get away," the first one said.

"I never did anything!" I tried to defend myself.

That was when a cold hand wrapped itself around my neck, I was pushed up against the fence with the second guys face close to mine. I didn't know whether to kick out and try to fight him off or just take what he had planned for me (whatever that was). I grabbed onto the guys arm and pulled it off me, he wasn't holding on very tightly.

"Get off me, I don't know what you want," I snapped, knowing it was the truth.

"Bullshit, we saw the way you looked at us," the first guy snapped.

That makes sense. There is this way that if you look at somebody a certain way there is a high probability that they will come after youand I had learnt that because even if you glanced in a Socs direction they would make some sort of retaliation. Usually some sort of jeer. I glared up the the second guy ready to defend myself if anything else happened. I didn't need too though, I felt his fist connect and I didn't feel much after that.

I knew they were older than me and one punch sent me to the floor, I looked up as everything slid in and out of space, that was when I noticed a third pair of shoes behind the first two guys. Just what I needed, another guy to come over.

"I knew it, you guys are fags," was the last thing before darkness clouded my eyes.

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"Tell me why you did this again Blue."

"Because I wasn't going to let Hunter and Seb beat up some kid."

"Since when did you care about somebody's well being, you're full of shit."

"Shut it Vince."

I kept my eyes shut, I could hear people talking. Opening my eyes I blinked a few times, I quickly looked around where I was before squeezing my eyes shut again. My head was spinning, feeling weak and kinda sick I sat up rubbing my eyes. I looked over at where I head the voices from, it wasn't what I expected. Three teenagers, two looked older than me and the other was obviously younger or just looked it.

"Welcome back to the world, thought you'd died out there kid," the first guy addressed me. "The name's Blue and you don't need to thank me. Them punks had it coming for some time."

Blue was tall (or looked it for where I was sitting) with light brown eyes and dark brown hair that fell in his eyes and looked as though somebody had just cut at it randomly with a pair scissors. I rubbed my neck, I don't know how I was lying but I was stiff and really sore. Blue, who hadn't said anything, began to talk again.

"Well... That's Vince," he pointed to the person behind him. Vince was tan with dark blue eyes and dark blonde hair that was cut properly around his ears. The scowl he wore on his face, the blonde hair and blue eyes reminded me of Dally. Blue spoke again. "An' that's my brother Floyd." he pointed to the boy on the floor. It was obvious they were brothers, same dark brown unevenly cut hair and brown eyes.

I could see Vince studying me. It was as though we were from different worlds. Blue, Floyd and Vince were dressed similarly. Dark jeans, dark t-shirt and a light jacket. Their hair was roughly cut and hung in their eyes or around their ears, no grease what so ever. I looked down at my battered Chuck Taylors and I glanced over at Floyd who was sitting with his legs pulled up to his chest. He wore a battered pair of leather boots that laced up his ankles.

"Why do you keep looking at me," Floyd spoke. "Stop looking at me."

"Sorry," I said quietly.

"What's your name, I don't wanna have to call you kid all the time," Vince was clearly not American.

I looked down and then back up at Vince who wasn't scowling any more, just looking intently.

"Ponyboy," I said quietly.

"What was that?" Floyd asked loudly.

"Ponyboy, my name's Ponyboy," I snapped.

I waited for the comments. Only one came.

"You're fucking kidding right!" I was Blue, I was about to snap back. "Cool, sounds like a wild west thief or somethin'. Well Ponyboy, you gonna tell's**(1)** where you came from?"

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**A/N: ****(1) **Tell's is basically the words 'Tell Us' mashed into one. My friend Brady (who actually lived in Oklahoma City basically most of his life) uses it whenever he says tell us.

Ponyboy's reactions to New York were basically the same as mine when I lived there a couple of years back. I've lived in the country most of my life so a big city like New York basically mindfucked me everyday. Sometimes I wish I still lived there, the internet was a lot better... Before anybody says anything. Floyd is 225th on the top 1000 names of the 60's and Vince is 415 so don't tell me they aren't 60's names. Blue, well you'll find out that later.

Hope you enjoyed chapter 2, reviews/faves/follows are always appreciated. See yah again.

-Zero


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